Dec. 6, 2012

Phil Reisman, photographed at WVOX radio station in New Rochelle April 26, 2012. ( Seth Harrison / The Journal News )

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A statue of St. Joseph overlooks the small playground at Ferncliff Manor in Yonkers.

Some think the religious icon brings luck, but nobody really pays attention to it. It’s just there, silently watching over children at play — children whose needs are so intense they defy the whims of superstition.

Ferncliff is a residential school for the least lucky, those who are defined by diagnostic shorthand and acronym.

These are the innocent who fit every description of “challenged.” They are developmentally disabled, cognitively impaired and behaviorally confrontational. Their place on the spectrum of autism is at the far end where the lost seek only to be found.

Kristen Yurczak, who is Ferncliff’s director of human resources, says these kids are among the “1 percent.”

Wealth has nothing to do with that. By 1 percent, Yurczak means the 66 children at Ferncliff represent the neediest of those in need.

And right now, they need a new facility. They’ve simply outgrown the place on Saw Mill River Road. The state of New York agrees with that assessment and wants Ferncliff to do something about it.

Ferncliff has a plan — a proposal to move to a new location. It’s a sensible plan, too. The problem is that for months Ferncliff’s plan has been needlessly blocked by pettifogging politicians who too often govern by gridlock and legislate by lawsuit.

Cutting through the political madness, Ferncliff basically wants to lease the former WestHELP homeless shelter in Greenburgh which Westchester County closed last year because the 108-unit complex was only 30 percent occupied. The school wants to maintain the current administration building on the eight-acre site, but tear down the apartment units, which have reportedly been damaged by an onslaught of mold and mildew, and replace them with state-of-the art living quarters suitable for up to 74 students at a state-financed cost of $17.5 million.

They have offered Greenburgh, which has a contractual obligation to maintain the property and is in effect the landlord, an initial rent of $200,000 per year that will eventually rise to $500,000. It’s a good deal, maybe the best one out there.

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The school floated the idea to Greenburgh Town Supervsior Paul Feiner, a Democrat.

Feiner liked it.

The school approached County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican.

Astorino liked it.

Everybody seemed to like it except some key Democrats on the County Board of Legislators — namely the two Greenburgh legislators, Alfreda Williams and Mary Jane Shimsky, and Chairman Ken Jenkins.

Let’s be real. Merit is only one consideration among many in the messy world of county politics. Williams and Shimsky are said to have longstanding gripes against Feiner that have nothing to do with Ferncliff, a place they have yet to even visit.

Jenkins has opposed Astorino at every turn on every issue. He has all but announced that he’s running against him for county executive in 2013 — and so will concede nothing, especially credit.

Jenkins & Co. contend that the county-owned WestHELP complex is classified for affordable housing and that Greenburgh is legally obliged to provide just that — housing for low- to moderate-income earners, including senior citizens.

But there’s more onions in this political stew. The Democrats are close to claiming conspiracy, blaming Feiner for the mold problem. Plus they know that the mostly-white surrounding neighborhood never liked the WestHELP project — and that Astorino’s chief spokesman, Ned McCormick, was once head of the neighborhood association.

What does any of this have to do with Ferncliff?

Nothing. That’s the going brand of lunacy in Westchester politics. Forget about the political ambitions of Jenkins and Astorino. Those guys can take care of themselves.

In this case, it’s the innocent who are caught in the vice. The crowning irony is that most of the Ferncliff children, about 70 percent, come from families with incomes below $50,000. So if the notion of moving to the former WestHELP site isn’t about fulfilling a need for affordable housing, then what is?

The politicians can be heroes in this, if they could just for once set aside their petty differences.

On a recent day, a visitor took a tour of Ferncliff and was met by Stephen Madey, the director of educational services; Edward Davidson, the school controller; and Yurczak, who is living proof that Ferncliff has a long and proud track record. (Her grandmother, Margaret Brady, was a registered nurse who founded the residential school in 1935 in Rye but later moved to Yonkers after the school was razed to make way for Interstate 95.)

Ferncliff is a bright, clean and cheerful place. The staff is passionate.

But the small lobby serves double duty as a visiting room for parents. The dining area is used as a gym and is hardly adequate, especially for the older children. Outside, there is a little grass to play on. Kids play under the shadow of Stew Leonard’s, which sits on higher ground.

“It’s a safe environment for our kids to live, but it could be better,” Davidson said.

Classes are held in trailers.

The visitor walked into one of the trailers where a small group of children were seated in wheelchairs. One of them was a visually-impaired youngster named Aaron.

Madey asked Aaron to sing. And he did. He sang, “You Are So Beautiful.”